D&D Accessories: Keep Your Dungeon Mastering Organized
Running an entire game can be difficult. Make it a little easier for yourself with some of these DM organizational tools.
Being the DM for an entire campaign is hard work. There’s a whole world to make up and remember everything about, NPCs to not mix up, the mechanics and rules of the game, and a whole plot with clues… Not to mention your player characters and all of their goals, hopes, dreams, and motivations. It’s a lot. So this week let’s try to take some of the pressure off of the hardest job at the table with some of these handy DM organizational tools.
1. Player’s Handbook Tabs
I saw these in a store and immediately had to comment on what a smart idea they were. Nobody likes spending a lot of time flipping through dense books for the exact information they’re after; especially not when an entire table of your players stares at you expectantly. Instead, keep the important pages permanently bookmarked for quick and easy reference with these Player’s Handbook tabs. Join me in saying “I was an over-achiever in high school and now I enjoy playing pretend,” by being excited to see a DMing tool like this out in the world.
2. DM Screen
These are a pretty standard tool of the game amongst DMs. In fact, most introductory D&D kits- and many other tabletop RPGs for that matter- come with a DM screen. And I love the screens that come with the game. They’re usually covered with helpful info on the DM-facing side and keep their notes and dice rolls hidden away nicely.
But if you’re looking to hold very specific notes and info on your screen, something like this may be more suited to your game. Each panel has a clear pocket to hold whatever you want to slide in there. Is it basic rules? Something more homebrew and bespoke for your game? Maybe just world notes and a script? Keep the notes that you’ll need the handiest.
3. Initiative Trackers
Keeping track of initiative should be really easy, but let’s be honest, sometimes we miss somebody. This tracker system will keep everything easy to see and everybody in the loop. Complete with markets for player characters and a few blanks for monsters, these tabs will sit on top of your DM screen so the whole table knows the initiative order. There are always spots for notes and names with the dry-erase marker.
4. Grid Maps
If you’re running a game and you want your players to have a general idea of where they are, you may just need to draw crude maps on a big dry-erase board or grid. Or, you can get grids that already look like that map and not have to show everybody that you don’t actually know what a tree looks like. These look pretty, have a lot of variety with six different terrains, and are dry-erase friendly! What else could you want in D&D?
5. Massive Mini Storage
Are you the sort of DM who has a mini for every NPC and occasion? Do you possibly have too many RPG miniatures and nowhere to put them? Well 108 of them are about to have a safe foam home with this mini storage bag. Layers and layers of foam keep dozens of your minis safe between games, and with a sturdy storage bag, you can take them wherever they’re needed this week.
Oh hey! BoLS might make a little dolla-dolla if you decide to buy these items. We need that money to buy our DM more coffee. They deserve-slash-need it.
